


Down-time

by Viola_Laterra



Category: Girl Genius (Webcomic)
Genre: Canon Era, F/M, Fix it with Polyamory, M/M, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-14 23:05:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17517527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viola_Laterra/pseuds/Viola_Laterra
Summary: When there's finally time to breathe, that's when all the stress hits Agatha.  But fortunately both Gil and Tarvek are available for support.  They speculate on just what this might look like.(Canon-compliant up through page 111 of volume 11; written 14 July 2011)





	Down-time

Gil walked down the hall, freshly groomed and clean for the first time in... well, it felt like a long time, but maybe it was only a week or two. With all that had happened... and there was a kind of timelessness, being inside the castle all this time.

The castle. As he walked up to Agatha's room, the castle said slyly, "She's still bathing, you know... no time like the present." Gil reddened, snapped, "Shut up, you!" and knocked on the door. The castle was still snickering as he heard "Come in!" and went in.

The master's quarters (well, the mistress' quarters, really) were indeed quite expansive. Gil admired the artwork and architecture as he walked through the entry area and sitting room to where he could hear running water, and found the bathroom, just off the sleeping area. Huh. The castle hadn't been kidding when it said that the master's bed slept a lot of people... it was a little ridiculous.

A loud clang came from the bathroom. "Damn!" Gil fought the urge to run in and see what was wrong; it had kept them all alive to be on their toes up until recently, but with the castle now fully functional (at least, inside), it was unlikely that he really needed to run in, and, well, she was still bathing. He blushed again, and to distract himself, said, "Agatha? What's going on back there? I thought you were nearly ready for dinner."

She swore loudly, and then: "Well, I thought of some modifications for my tub, which would be ever so nice, and I just thought I'd..." she was cut off by another clang, followed by the sound of a large gush of water being released somewhere. Gil didn't see it flooding into the room, so he went and sat on the bed to wait her out.

"Agatha, maybe you could... wait a little while? On the enhancements? I'm sure they're nearly done cooking dinner," he called.

She mumbled something indistinct, and then said, "All right, give me a minute, I only messed up the extra big tub. I'll go shower off."

"The extra big tub?"

She laughed, "Yeah, you can just imagine with a suite like this that there are a number of... options... for bathing. Some are clearly intended for a quick cleaning, and some... well, let me put it this way... there's a whole lot of room in that tub." Then the sound of the shower, and she started humming her usual Heterodyne tune.

Gil did his best not to think too hard about "the extra big tub" and tried to busy himself looking at the architecture. And studiously avoiding the mirrored ceiling above the bed.

At length, she emerged from the bathroom, wearing only a silk robe. (An Eastern style, was it?) He stood as she walked up to him, smiling.

"It's so nice to be clean!" she said brightly, and then impulsively slipped her arms around him and hugged him close. He could feel her body against him as he returned the embrace, and he fought with swimming thoughts, searching for what to say. It was overwhelming, after everything, to just have her right there, in his arms, with no injuries to treat, and no one attacking them. In fact, he glanced around suspiciously, really expecting someone to start shooting at them any minute.

She had pulled away, and was looking up at him with the most remarkable look on her face. Everything came into sharp focus. "Gil..." she started.

He looked down into her deep green eyes, waiting, not sure what to do. She was struggling for what to say, too. He waited.

"I... I'm so glad you're alive," she said, awkwardly.

He struggled internally for a moment, then: Fine. Time to just say it. The direct way. Zeetha knew what she was about, after all. It was how he felt, regardless of how Agatha did. And he didn't want Zeetha to hit him again later. "Agatha, I love you."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "Gil, I love you too." Relief flooded him and he tilted his head down until their foreheads touched. He laughed from the release of having said it, and having heard it. Then he became giddy from how close she was... his senses were filled with her. Suddenly he laughed harder, and said, "The Jagers are right."

"About what?" she asked. He leaned further down. "You do smell nice," he said into her ear. She laughed too, and then reached up to touch his face, and then before he knew what was going on, she had turned her head, and she was kissing him. There was a moment of pure bliss which soon gave way to hunger, on both parts, and she was unbuttoning his shirt, her hands rough but delicate, and he slipped his hands under her robe and the feel of her skin, oh, the feel of her...

Without thinking, they were on the bed, and she was sitting on top of him, and he felt exhilarated and helpless all at once... and suddenly, as she looked down at him, the tears welled up again.

"Oh, Agatha..." he reached up to stroke her face. She collapsed down onto his chest, and he murmured reassurances to her, stroking her hair, as she began to sob uncontrollably. "Shh, it's all right. We're safe now." He wasn't sure exactly what to do, but decided it was best to just keep doing what he was doing, and see if she would cry herself out. He wryly figured this was just his luck with women, anyway, that he finally got the girl and she started crying all over him. But what mattered in the end was that she was all right, that she loved him, and he loved her, and he wasn't going to let anyone hurt her, ever. All the rest would happen when it happened. He could be patient.

A soft sound drew his attention to the doorway back into the sitting room. And of course, there was Tarvek. Also part of his luck. Gil realized he had left the door open when he entered, having expected Agatha to be ready; and in this place, sometimes when you closed a door, it didn't open again, so it had been good policy *not* to shut the door behind you. Gil waited for his usual internal flash of annoyance at seeing Tarvek, especially interrupting him and Agatha. But something about Agatha having said that she loved him had mollified him; regardless of what happened later, that knowledge was unshakeable. 

So he watched a set of emotions chase each other across Tarvek's face. First anger, and indignation, and judgement (Gil imagined he could almost hear Tarvek thinking "Degenerate!", and indeed she was laying on top of him, robe askew, his shirt undone, and she was sobbing)... but then a look of despair, and finally resignation. It was all fleeting, and then he looked uncomfortable, as if he were unable to leave, but desperately wanted to. Gil thought to himself, really, Agatha needs both of us right now. And the thought didn't worry him. So he gestured with his free hand to Tarvek to join them.

Surprised, definitely, but Tarvek came over and sat down. Agatha roused from her sobbing, sat up (robe still askew), and, seeing him, gulped. "Oh, Tarvek!" she cried, and threw her arms around his neck, and sobbed there for a while. He looked at Gil with a raised eyebrow. Gil shrugged, half smiling. Tarvek stroked her back, waiting.

At length, she calmed down, and stopped crying. She let go of Tarvek, kissing his neck, and sat between them on the enormous bed.

"I... I'm sorry," she said. Gil and Tarvek both responded immediately with, "It's all right," and "Don't worry about it." A cross look was exchanged, but that quickly faded when she said, "I'm so lucky to have you both here, safe and sound and whole... I think I just... it was all too much. I lost too many people I loved..." This last was a whisper. They exchanged a look over her head; they'd heard about Lars, but she didn't talk about it much. Gil simply said, "We've all been through a lot." Tarvek nodded.

Agatha sniffled and said, "I hate when I break down like that. I don't really want to go face everyone else if I'm this.... fragile. I... I don't think I'm ready for dinner yet." And she curled up against the two of them and drifted off to sleep, one hand on Gil's still-bared chest, and the other wrapped around Tarvek's arm. Gil smirked again and said in a low voice to Tarvek, "Well, I don't feel particularly ready for dinner now; do you?" Tarvek laughed softly, "Yeah, neither do I."

They lay there, all together, for some time, Agatha snoring gently, until Tarvek broke the calm, saying quietly to Gil, "How is this going to work?"

Gil restrained his surprised laughter. He snorted softly, and said "You're asking me? I kind of think she's in charge here." Then, more soberly, "I think we just see what happens. Who knows what the three of us could accomplish together?"

He watched the possibilities stream through Tarvek's mind, and then thought of something. Something important. "Tarvek," he said. Tarvek looked at him inscrutably. "I want to apologize." Tarvek waited. Gil sighed. "When we were caught in the library... that was when my father told me who I was. I... I'm sorry I got you sent home. I was in shock, and suddenly all I could see was that my friend was spying on... well, my father's empire, which was suddenly my empire... I was angry and confused and..." he trailed off. Tarvek looked away. Gil waited.

Finally, Tarvek spoke. "I accept your apology. I'm not sure that makes things right between us. There have been many, many years between us that have done their damage. But she needs us both, as much as I hate to admit it. We're not out of the woods yet by any means. You and I have a lot of work to do."

A moment passed as they both contemplated the work that needed to be done, in many areas. Politically... repairing the town and the castle... trying to remove Lucrezia from Agatha's mind... and whatever needed to be done to make things right between the two of them. Gil said, "I think we can agree that we're all in this together, now. Can we call a truce?" and he held out his free hand. Tarvek hesitated, looked Gil in the eyes, and then clasped his hand. "Truce." For just a second, Gil saw a mischievous look in Tarvek's eyes that reminded him of his old childhood friend. At length, they both looked down at Agatha. Tarvek added, "It's probably better for her, anyway, if we're not constantly fighting with each other." "Yeah," said Gil. He just imagined that he heard the castle say softly, "Drat!"

They lay there in silence for a time, each thinking his own thoughts. And slowly, they both fell asleep. The three of them lay there, alternately snoring softly, curled up together on the ridiculously large bed. It had been a long couple of weeks.

From the doorway, Krosp snorted. "Well, I guess I'll tell everyone else not to wait up for dinner," and turned and padded away down the hall.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written when we had seen up to page 111 of volume 11, so before the much-awaited kiss and Gil leaves the castle at the end of book 11 - I'd pictured that after a while in the castle they'd fix it up and get everything sorted out, but clearly that's not how things ended up going.


End file.
